MMX Gift From the Past
by Fanfic Addict2
Summary: my version of MMX's activation. Before the games. (AU) PLEASE READ, it's my first fic about MM!
1. In the depths

Disclaimer : Mega Man and co. belong to Capcom, blablabla... legal stuff... please don't sue...  
  
Summary : my version of MegaManX's activation.  
  
PG : Eventually some violence and language.... -Looks in Zero's direction. Zero (sounds heartbroken): "What?.." -  
  
Autor's note :  
  
***** IMPORTANT!!! *******  
  
Since this story takes place in an ALTERNATE UNIVERSE (mine, hehe...), meaning I DO NOT follow Capcom's plotline. Go there to consult MY timeline :  
  
http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=552664  
  
The story will make more sense if you do, but I'm not twisting anyone's arm...  
  
-- By the way, the first chapter sounds great with the intoduction music from "Ghost In The Shell".  
  
******************************  
  
Darkness here...  
  
Nothing more.  
  
Silence  
  
And peace.  
  
The kind of peace which can only be found after troubled times.  
  
This was all it needed to rest... finally.  
  
Here, nothing mattered, but to rest and be peaceful. It was not conscious, but still it could feel the emptiness around it. Everything FELT far away... and unimportant. So it rested in this place. Without knowing why, not caring for all long or how much time it could stay here. Its own brain was a clouded place, resting as much as it did, but doing something else as well. The electric pulses were too intense for it to be resting as much as it did. Yet, it just couldn't figure out what was going on with the thing. It could tell it was beginning to be more active. Too many thoughts. More at the same time than it could tell it ever did.  
  
But "It" wasn't as alone as It thought. So the machine that guarded It understood It was agitated and sent an order to the comatose brain. Slowly, the precious creature within it drifted away back into It's restful and dreamless sleep.  
  
With the treasure safe, the capsule went back to it's work, monitoring the mechanical brain and assisting it in making and sustaining the millions of microscopic connections the exceptional being required to function. It worked endlessly as it had done for the last 75 years.  
  
Not equipped with external sensors, the capsule never noticed the sudden artificial light of an electric torch on itself or the sudden exclamations that followed. And continued to work.  
  
An old and wrinkled hand carefully removed some of the dust covering the glass. The old man thanked the gods the capsule was undamaged. He directed the light of his torch inside the opening he had made, revealing the sleeping form of a young man dressed in blue.  
  
******************  
  
Tbc.  
  
Be cool, gimme some review...  
  
B) 


	2. Digging up

Doctor Cain was overexcited. UNCONTROLLABLY overexcited. Jumping around and giggling like a school girl.  
  
They had found the capsule just the night before. While everyone else had gone to sleep, Cain had stayed and studied the capsule more. By the looks of the rest of the laboratory, it was a miracle the capsule was undamaged and working perfectly.  
  
The morning after, Dr.Cain had concluded the capsule would be better back at his own personal laboratory. So the archaeological team had manage to extract the thing from the depths of the ruins and were now securing it inside a transport.  
  
Still jumping around like an hyperactive kid, Dr. Cain did not notice the tall and dark figure behind him.  
  
- Cough!..ahem!  
  
Cain finally turned around, expecting one his "crew members" and jumped at the sight before him.  
  
- SIGMA!!! … Don't do that! For God's sake, what are you trying to do, kill an old man?!!  
  
The tall reploid smiled with dignity.  
  
-That would be a shame and a waste… No, I came here to find out for myself about the "artefact" you've discovered last night.  
  
- What the?.. How do you know about that?  
  
Sigma shrugged his shoulders, trying to remain serious.  
  
- Well, you did take two of my men to watch the site AND you tried and keep it a secret. So of course… the whole base knows by now.  
  
- Mmph… that'll teach me to trust the military. (sigh!) Well, if you do want to know, it's in that transport over there…  
  
Without waiting for the elder, Sigma entered the vehicle and took a peak at the capsule. He sniffed in disappointment when seeing the thing inside. Cain finally caught up with him.  
  
- It's a robot. He snorted. All this agitation for a walking toaster?!  
  
Dr. Cain laughed joyfully and began jumping around again.  
  
- That's what so exciting, my dear Sigma. It's a REPLOID!!!  
  
Sigma's eyes grew wide.  
  
- What? You lost it, old man. That's not possible…  
  
- I know, but I personally examined this capsule and the creature inside. It is a reploid. Do you realise? That means this thing was built 50 years before reploids were even invented! Half a century before the technology was available! It was probably built by Doctor Light himself!!!  
  
- What do you intend to do with it?  
  
- I'm taking it back to my laboratory for further study.  
  
- Your laboratory? So, I suppose you'll want a temporary suspension from your obligations back at the base?  
  
- Ho!… well I suppose… This IS an exceptional discovery. This creature might require an extensive study of its behaviour and capabilities. It will probably take a few days…  
  
Now, it was Sigma's turn to laugh:  
  
- A few days? So you don't think much of your new toy, already?  
  
- Well, it is pretty old. And I am not so naïve as to think Dr. Light, all by himself, would have done as much on A.I. as hundreds of scientists did over 50 years. No one is that smart…  
  
- Nevertheless, you could take it back to the base and isolate it in the lower-levels.  
  
- What for?  
  
Sigma tapped on the glass.  
  
- You see that thing on his arm… I'm pretty sure it's a weapon. I say you got yourself a fighting machine. It would be a shame if it went berserk and blew off your precious lab. I doubt it would be any kind of a threat back at the HQ.  
  
- I don't think it would be a good idea. From what I learned about doctor Light, he had a tendency to build the most "human" machines. It probably needs a minimum of a decent environment to function properly.  
  
- What? Like sunshine and fresh water? You scientists play god a little too much for my comfort. I say, your Dr. Light built a fighting-thing, so it's going to want to fight. As simple as that.  
  
- Still, I'll take it "home" and call a team on this project. Hey, I have an idea! I'll call the university and see if the Suwa campus' students wants in.  
  
- And save on salaries? You missed your purpose in life, old man. You should have made it businessman. Well, I'll leave you with your new toy, I have work to do…  
  
Without turning back, Sigma left. Cain smiled at the sleeping reploid.  
  
- If I didn't knew better, I'd say Sigma's mad at me for leaving my "duties". Well, I never promised them anything, have I? Let's take you home. I'm dying to see what you can do…  
  
**********************  
  
Tbc.  
  
Feedback, please. I'm an addict.  
  
B) 


	3. Awakening

"It" continued to sleep, but somehow, "It" knew things had began to change. It was different around him. Not as peaceful as the other place. "It" was thinking now and nothing was sending it back to the empty place "It" loved so much.  
  
As the activity inside its brain increased, the first conscious thought began to form :  
  
"Wait..." It thought. " I am not an * it *... I ... am... me? What does it mean?"  
  
But He had not the strength to answer his own question and slowly, he drifted away in the back of his own mind, inside a dark and empty place, to wait... and awaken.  
  
**************************  
  
Cain had the capsule transported back at his personal laboratory, where it had remain for the last week. Dr. Cain, for himself, had taken very little sleep and drank much coffee during that period.  
  
Assisted by a couple of students from New Tokyo's Science Institute, he had studied the functioning of the 75 years old technology. In the mean time, Cain had decided to open the capsule and activate the reploid within it.  
  
So, the small team were all standing in the large room and making the last preparations.  
  
- Are you sure you want to go on with this, doctor? Why not wait `till it opens by itself? Asked one of the students.  
  
- Because, my dear Hiko, that won't happen for about 25 years, if I understood correctly, and I don't plan to live that long. Besides, all the readings are above the green, so we probably don't risk much by activating it a little early. This automatic timer was most likely programmed by fear there would be no one around to do it manually.  
  
- Yet, if you're wrong, you might damage or darn simply kill him. Oh... and I would greatly appreciate if you stopped calling him an "it", especially when I'm around. Just because he's a little primitive, doesn't mean he's not a complete reploid... How would you like if I grabbed one of your handicapped person and dragged him around, calling him a "thing"?  
  
The women who talked stood above the capsule, studying the blue reploid. She wasn't really tall, about 5'3'', but that was not what distinguished her from the rest. She had the palest skin, short and rough blond hair and strange green eyes. She was amongst the first generation of reploids, about 35 years of age. She was a strong militant of reploids rights and was teaching a few economy and philosophical classes at the university. Naturally, as soon as she heard of Cain's discovery, she wanted in.  
  
- I am sorry, AC-38... Answered Cain... Forgive an old fool. It's a bad habit I've took. Every time I'm around a relic or a rare object, I automatically call it an "it". And this one his the most incredible creature I've seen since we found doctor Light's handwritten journal over 35 years ago.  
  
- Okay, I won't pull off your head this time... but are you SURE it's safe to open the capsule without damaging the reploid?  
  
- You know as much as I do. It isn't easy to tell anything with this old technology. And the plans we found with it are as hard to understand. But I wouldn't take the risk of damaging Dr. Light's last creation just for fun... Yes, I believe there's little risks at opening the box.  
  
- Well, then, let's do it.  
  
So Cain went over the control panel and began working on the activation process.  
  
***********************  
  
He felt it....  
  
The light...  
  
Filing were there was only darkness before.  
  
Sparks moving through his wires likes vehicles on a speedway.  
  
So bright...  
  
Marvellous... Divine... Warm.... Hot.... Too hot..... Burning...  
  
"Hurts!...."  
  
Too quick.... ....... ........ too soon?  
  
"..... Wait!.... Stop!"  
  
But there was no stopping this... birth.  
  
He felt it, the change inside him. Like the dam of a large river suddenly collapsed, letting the wild waters loose on the unaware land.  
  
The power of his own mind ravaging the fragile connections. His ..... program? ..... invading the unprepared body.  
  
The only consolation was it had no effects here, in the dark. But it changed everything... made something..... go wrong. So sad...  
  
"Why?.."  
  
Then, the Light seized him. It felt so good... to be... to live... to feel...  
  
" My body... is this... my body? ... so strange..."  
  
*So different ...*  
  
"What?"  
  
* The body is different... *  
  
"From what?"  
  
* The other one... *  
  
" I don't understand..."  
  
* I know... so sad... *  
  
" What?.. Wait... are you?.."  
  
* Yes... *  
  
" But... you have to come too!!..."  
  
* I can't... *  
  
" You can't stay here!.."  
  
* There is no choice... *  
  
" I need you..."  
  
* You can learn again... *  
  
" I don't want to... I need you... and I need them... !"  
  
...The Light again... it pulled at him...  
  
* It's not important... *  
  
" NOT IMPORTANT??? How can you say that!?! I need them... I love them... to have them in my mind..."  
  
... pulled him towards the greatest of lights...  
  
* You will forget... but your heart will always know... *  
  
"It's not enough... what happened..."  
  
* Is not important... go now... *  
  
... to the world of the living...  
  
" NO!!! I won't leave! I can't... it's too hard without you... what you know..."  
  
* (sigh!)... I #can't# come with you... Go with the light... *  
  
" no... please... please..."  
  
... to leave the dark...  
  
*... I didn't remember it hurt so much... Didn't thought it would be so hard...*  
  
" Help me..."  
  
* (sigh!) Very well... here... *  
  
"...Huh? ... what are these?..."  
  
* The only things you need to know... you always did... *  
  
... to be born and forget this place...  
  
In his mind he saw them... two things... Good and Evil...  
  
"Great... that's easy... I would've figured out by myself..."  
  
*It never is that simple... you used to know that... *  
  
... then his senses took over... the noises, the smells, the air on his skin...  
  
"Will I ever see you again... or them?..."  
  
* ... ... *  
  
" I can't ear you... you're too far now... ... .. .. .. .. .. What? ... The other you gave me?..."  
  
... There were voices... people talking... machines too...  
  
... Time to wake up... no turning back...  
  
In his mind, the truth shined... a beautiful truth...Remember...  
  
Everything will be all right...  
  
... wake up...  
  
**********************************  
  
- ... wake up. Don't you think? A woman asked.  
  
- A long time to wake up? How am I supposed to know that, my dear 38? A slightly shaky voice answered.  
  
- Doctor!! I think he's awake... a third voice said.  
  
He opened his eyes... and quickly shut them again. Letting his sensors adapt to the bright, unnatural light.  
  
Slowly, he sat up. Hearing a few gasps and whispering. He wasn't alone and there was at least six or seven other people in the room. It was... intimidating.  
  
He hesitated to reopen his eyes... to face the world for real, this time. "What is there to fear in the world?" He thought. It takes courage to face the truth, but he knew he had too... so he opened his eyes...  
  
He found a face... a little too close for comfort... an old man with a long, white beard was staring at him with the widest smile...  
  
- Hello, the old man said, cheerfully.  
  
- Hmm... Hel... hello.  
  
His own voice sounded so strange to his ears.  
  
The other one said nothing... apparently... waiting for him to do something.  
  
- Who are you? He finally managed to ask.  
  
The old person seemed please with this simple question.  
  
- I am doctor Cain... but call me Cain. This young lady is AC-38, the one with the glasses is Hiko. The ones over there are Mary, Sumika, Kunio and Steve... do you ... hmmm... understand?  
  
He took a moment to look at them, the woman with the numbers in her name was different, he could tell. Not only with her name or her looks, but also in the way she looked at him. She wasn't "staring" like the others... she was... watching instead. It made him feel better.  
  
The old one seemed to be getting nervous, so he answered the question.  
  
- Yes, I understand. You are doctor Cain. Cain his your family name and doctor is your title. You get familiar with people by letting them drop that term, but you keep your distance by using only your last name and not your first.  
  
- Hmmm, something like that...  
  
- Good... Now... who am I ?  
  
- What?  
  
- What is MY name, please?  
  
That didn't work well... the people started whispering again. The woman looked at Dr. Cain in a strange way.  
  
- Oh boy... The old man said.  
  
Then he realised... they didn't know... and neither did he....  
  
TBC  
  
***********************  
  
Reviews, please  
  
Critics.... Commentaries..... anything....  
  
B) Be cool 


	4. Interlude (technical observations)

Hey people...  
  
Thanks for the feedback!!! :-)  
  
Remember, this is AU (alternate universe, or reality, or whatever you call it...)  
  
Go here for the timeline : http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=552664  
  
*********************  
  
First week of activation  
  
-- Doctor Cain's journal --  
  
//MMX012//  
  
It has been two days since we've opened the capsule and activated the reploid inside. As much admiration I used to have for Dr. Light's work, it is nothing compared to the wonders I have witness these last 48 hours.  
  
My first observations about the reploid proved to be completely false. I had believe the reploid to be a little "slow-minded", due to his early conception. But his lack of reaction was, in fact, cause by great confusion and, he told me himself, because he felt very intimidated... Waking after so long to find complete strangers staring at you like some kind of weird animal must have been quite a shock.  
  
Through long and hard negotiations, I have convinced AC-38 not to pull my brains out to find out what had been wrong with me.  
  
Unfortunately, her first impressions proved to be right. By activating the "waking" process, I accidentally caused a short-circuit in a very small part of the reploid's "brain" (note to self : make a deeper study of the neural system). As an effect, some of the information was misdirected and is now either lost in the main frame or has been deleted permanently.  
  
General observations :  
  
I know I should've made this sooner, but that little wonder required a lot more attention than I had planned (note to self : ask Sigma to get me a longer vacation).  
  
The reploid grew very insistent on getting a name. So I gathered Dr. Light's notes we found near the capsule and a copy of the information available inside the very capsule. We know Dr. Light refered to him as Mega Man X, but it sounded more like a designation, the way he should be presented to the general public. The reploid took a moment to study the notes and decided of his own name.  
  
To my surprise, he decided to simply be called... X.  
  
When X got out of the capsule and took his first steps, I noticed he was a little unstable on his legs, as if unused to his own body. By now he seems to have gotten the hang of it. Yet it is very strange. Any other reploid is programmed with the necessary interface to use it's body perfectly and immediatly after activation. X almost act as if he needs to learn and master it. He tripped many times yesterday but none today. I have also observed that he his working on his dexterity by carefully manipulating objects. To juggle seems to best way he found to improve himself... at the expense of my delicate equipment that is... ( note to self : buy X some toys so he will leave mines alone )  
  
I have also began to observe X's life cycles :  
  
- X needs about 6 hours of regeneration per day inside a normal capsule. But the schematics suggest he does not necessarily needs to do so. He could apparently be satisfied with "normal" sleep cycles of 8 to 10 hours outside of a capsule. That alone makes him an extremly independant creature, unlike most other reploids. Not to depend on any other machine to survive is a huge advantage.  
  
- Like some of the most recent reploids, X can (I should say "must", since we haven't found any other technology adapted to him, yet) assimilate nutrients. Durings his "meals" (the few I have seen yet), he absorbs amino acids and complexe proteins, probably for their energetic values, basic minerals (iron and copper, mostly, but also a vast variety of others) and a large quatity of water. It is no surprise to me, water is made of oxygen and hydrogen, the easiest comburant and combustible to find in the entire universe.  
  
There is another, and mostly fascinating, element of X's anatomy. The armor, wich I had first mistaken as an exoskeleton, is removable. I am very intrigued to why Dr. Light decided of this. Without the blue armor, X *cannot* be told from any other human. That is to say X looks exactly like a normal young human male. Why did Dr. Light build something that would disapear in any crowd, something that *looks* human, but is not?.. What purpose does that serve? This raises other questions : If X can be rid of his armor and weapon, does it mean he trully is a combat machine? And if the answer is still yes, what consequences will his appearance bring? I can easely imagine this fighting-machine, this -predator- lurking among humans like a wolf disguised as a sheep. There are many reasons why reploids are built *not* to look like humans, that is one of them.  
  
As X is now ending his second day with us, I have decided to give him what he needs to adapt to our time, to our world : informations, clothes, a personnal space, some learning tools (toys and books, if you prefer)... But I have also decided that he would remain confined to the parts of the laboratory he has already visited. He will have no contacts with people other than the members of the research team and people to who I will give autorisations. This will remain until I have decided that X is entirely stable and capable of independant social interactions. Even if X has shown no signs of agressivity whatsoever, this is a chance I will not take. AC-38 will probably object, she has no desire to see him as a threat, but I will decide what is best. I am also beginning to suspect she sees him as a chance for publicity or propaganda. AC-38 is the only reploid X has contacts with, but if she plans to feed him to the journalists, I will have to throw her out of the project.  
  
My early conclusions are that X will mostly require a stable environment for the time beeing. The more reason not to expose him to the media, not to mention that privacy will keep him from extremist groups, humans or Mavericks.  
  
I will continue my observations daily and remain full time at the laboratory until I feel that X can be safely left alone.  
  
//MMX012/endfile//  
  
Cain  
  
-- Log out --  
  
*********************  
  
TBC.  
  
Feedback is addictive.  
  
B) 


	5. First week "Isolation"

Another chapter complete....  
  
Here are two music you can listen to while reading this :  
  
- Requiem from "Princess Mononoke"  
  
and  
  
- Yearning of the Sword from "Crouching Tiger ; Hidden Dragon"  
  
or you can try  
  
- Puppetmaster from "Ghost in the Shell"  
  
***********************  
  
A strange echo bounced against the empty walls of the laboratory. The lights had been shut down in the corridors, leaving them in almost complete darkness, if not for the red lights on the doors that showed they were all locked.  
  
But this red darkness became lighter when approching a certain section of the empty building. There was but one room with the lights still on. A large room with metallic grey walls and grey doors and a very high ceiling. A room without windows. An empty room with the doors locked from the outside. This was were the echo came from.  
  
In this room were only few objects. A regeneration capsule. A small, hospital-like, bed. One piece of furniture, with three drawers. A glass of water. One history book. A clock.  
  
And on the far other side of this room, a basketball net and a rolling ball.  
  
The ball rolled slowly until it bounced against something on its trajectory. The ball had been stopped by the body of a young man. The brown hair boy bent and picked up the basket-ball.  
  
- 57...  
  
The young man, looking around 16 or 17 years of age, had green eyes and a gentle face. He was dressed very simply, wearing white, ordinary, running-shoes and a blue hospital uniform with short sleeves.  
  
He turned his back to the net and threw the basket ball over his head. The ball flew freelly on 30 metres and fell directly in the center of the target. Then it fell to the ground... and rolled back to the young man's heels. He turned around and picked the ball again.  
  
- ... 58 ...  
  
And threw it again.  
  
Never did he pay any attention to the large mirror on the opposite wall. Behind that "mirror", in an other room, Hiko yawned so loudly he woke his partner up. Mary streched lazily and sat back in her chair. She watched X curiously.  
  
- What's he doing?  
  
- The subject appears to be bored, Hiko replied in a mocking/scientific tone.  
  
- How long has he been like that?  
  
- Ever since he finished that book Dr. Cain gave him before he left... four or five hours ago, that is. He just stands there, throws the ball and counts the shots. The only thing to write down on the report is that whenever he misses he starts over at zero.  
  
- Well... maybe we should give him another book... or tell him to go to bed... the poor thing.  
  
- Absolutely not!.. You know the doctor's orders. No contacts outside the presence of the security guards or Miss `38. Only the doctor is allowed of direct interactions with the reploid outside of those security mesures... yadayadayada. You know the drill...  
  
- Well, I think Dr. Cain has been spending too much time around commander Sigma and the Hunters. He threats him like he's a Maverick.  
  
- `Could be... That's the reason of the thight security. As long as Dr. Cain hasn't completely analyse X's programming and found no trace of "irregularity", X has to be considered potentially dangerous.  
  
- Oh, come on Hiko... Does he really look like a murderous psychopath to you?.. I mean, here he is, in a completely new world, totally alone, obviously knowing nothing besides what a damage memory core can tell him. And the best thing we find to do is lock him in a cage like a lab rat and threat him like a criminal!  
  
- Geez... you take it seriously. He's not even a week old. So what if he stays in for some time? Besides, it's only temporary.  
  
- That doesn't mean he has to be isolated! He looks like a very nice person to me... Whatever. I'm going in there...  
  
Mary stood up and walked out the door.  
  
- Mary don't. Come on, don't do that. Dr. Cain will be mad.  
  
Hiko pleaded, not even getting out of his chair.  
  
- Oh well ... I tried.  
  
**********************  
  
X turned to face the door as it slid open. A young woman hesitantly stepped inside. She was about 169 centimetres tall, curly red hair cut to her shoulders. X remembered seeing her, Dr. Cain had said her name was... Mary.  
  
The ball hit his heels again. He bent down and picked it again.  
  
- ... 69 ...  
  
And threw it again.  
  
- hmmm... Hello, X. She started, on a childlike-tone.  
  
- Hi... Mary.  
  
X felt a little uncomfortable. He wasn't sure how to react. He had never spoke to anyone else than Dr. Cain and AC-38, and had only spoke to the other "reploid" once.  
  
The ball came back again, so he picked it up. But didn't threw back.  
  
- You remember my name. That's great.  
  
X smiled timidly.  
  
- You don't have to be shy, I'm not going to bite you.  
  
- Oh... I know that... ... ... ... I thought Dr. Cain said no one would see me when he wasn't there?  
  
- *giggles * Dr. Cain doesn't know I'm here... Say, you're very good at this. I can hardly make a good shot... and not on that distance... and certainly NOT with my back turned.  
  
X looked at the ball distractly.  
  
- Well, I am getting "the hang of it", like the doctor says. But it's just basic geometry. All I have to do is throw the ball like this...  
  
The ball flew in the air and fell in the basket.  
  
Mary whistled, visibly impressed.  
  
- Wow... a practical use for geometry... cool!  
  
- Are you cold?  
  
- What?  
  
- You said "cool", is something cold?  
  
Mary laughed again.  
  
- No, nothing is cold. When people say "cool", most of the times it's a manner of speach.  
  
- Oh... I'll try to remember that... So many things I don't know.  
  
- Don't worry, everyone goes through that.  
  
- ... I guess.... .... ... Do you ?.... ... ...  
  
X looked down and began dribbling with the ball. Obviously certain he shouldn't have asked.  
  
- Well, said Mary, go ahead and ask. Is something wrong?  
  
- No, nothing is wrong.  
  
X turned around and threw the ball, facing the net this time... The ball flew... and missed by a long shot.  
  
- Mary, do you know... ... ... Do you know what Dr. Cain plans to do with me?  
  
So, that was it. For some reason, X was beginning to think Dr. Cain meant him harm in some way.  
  
"I knew this would happen, caging him like a criminal or a dissection specimen! Doctor or no doctor, Cain is going to hear of this!"  
  
- Well, not really... But he's not going to do something *to* you, if that's what worries you.  
  
- Oh... that's good, right?  
  
- Of course... Dr. Cain may seem a little strange, but he's just a little too enthusiastic to work on your schematics. Dr. Light is his idol in many things. But he won't do you any harm. He's a little grumpy and gets angry more and more easely in his old days, but he's a good and kind-hearted man.  
  
- Do you think he'll keep me here very long?  
  
- I don't think so. As soon as he'll be done studying your program, he'll let you move around more freely.  
  
- ... just a little curious, Mary continued, why did you think Dr. Cain might hurt you?  
  
X went over the bed and sat on it.  
  
- I didn't think he would "hurt" me purposely. But I heard the conversation he had just after AC-38 left me. They had an argument about me.  
  
- What did they talked about?  
  
- Well... when Ac-38 came to see me after they put me in this room, she said a lot of things. That I shouldn't let Dr. Cain shut me down, not even to repair me. Not to do things I didn't wanted or answer questions they asked. Things like that... she's the one who thinks Dr. Cain wouldn't "take care of me like he should", like she said. I think he heard the last part of our conversation and he got really upset. They both accused each other of "using" me. Ac-38 talked about my rights and me not being a specimen and something called the A.R.F., I don't know what that is.  
  
- The Association for Reploid Freedom, it's a political group Miss '38 is an active member of... they're on the edge of something we call "extremists".  
  
- Well, whatever it is, Dr. Cain really got mad and told her he wouldn't allow her to see me again... Ever since, I ask Dr. Cain, but he always says "no" and gets a little angry every time I insist.  
  
- You asked him to get out of this room and he doesn't want you to, right?  
  
- I... Yes.  
  
- You really want to get out, don't you?  
  
- Yes. I really wish to get out of the laboratory. I know what the sky is, I'd really want to see it with my own eyes. I think I would do anything to go outside... anything... but I don't want to upset Dr. Cain. He's really nice to me and I know he wants what's best for me. Even if I don't understand all of his reasons.  
  
Mary sat down next to him and hugged him a little.  
  
- You're a very good person to thrust us like that. And very brave to endure all this from complete strangers. I'm sure Dr. Cain would be very touched if he heard it... Say what? How about I came to see you every time I could from now on?  
  
X thought about it for a second... then smiled cheerfully, and hugged Mary back.  
  
- Yes... Yes I would REALLY like that. Thank you.  
  
They laughed and began speakin of other things... among them, Mary promised to get X a television if she couldn't convice Dr. Cain to let him out.  
  
************************  
  
On the other side of the mirror, Hiko's glasses masked his expression. The young asian took a CD out of the console in front of him.  
  
- Planning to escape already?... I don't think so.  
  
On the tape was a part of the conversation Mary and X just had... but it stopped a little too early:  
  
"... I think I would do anything to go outside... anything..."  
  
*********************  
  
TBC.  
  
B) 


	6. Interlude2 (monthly report)

Back again… Sorry for not be able to update sooner.  
  
Thanks for all your feedback  
  
To answer a question that has been asked more than once : yes, I plan to get Zero on this fic... eventually... I have no idea how long this fic will be.  
  
  
  
*****************************  
  
-- Doctor Cain's journal --  
  
//MMX115//  
  
X has ended his first month in our company. I am pleased to report that everything is progressing nicely. I took it upon myself to allow X some freedom. After showing a satisfactory behavior in his interactions with one member of the team (Mary), I have allowed the other members to join. He will also be free to circulate at his convenience on this level (2d basement). Yet, he still won't be granted the permission to leave the laboratory. Wich brings me to speak more of X's programming.  
  
The complexity of it amazes me everyday. I was able to finish the first layer of data mearly this week. What was my surprise when I realise there was more to come. Basically, the language to configure X is pretty simple, but it gets harder once you realise how the different programs are linked one to another. They are connected quite similarly like the computers are connected to the Iternet. Each program creates many links to other programs, eventually the design takes the shape of a giant "web". But more amazing, the programs of this first "intranet" are actually multirecipients of other programs (much like nots), wich constitutes an other plateau of sub-layers. I suspect these new layers will, themselves, hide some more sub- layers.  
  
What doesn't help is that X's entire system recycles every 24 hours.  
  
Less technically speaking, X continues his adaptation of our time. By now, he shows the caracteristics and knowledge of a sixteen years old teenager. This progress is quite estonishing, but I beleive he has reached a limit and his no longer able to integrate as much data as he did only a few weeks ago. I suppose X was simply compensing for his dammaged programming and is beginning to learn at a more "normal" speed.  
  
I had hoped that X wouldn't require as much care and attention as this. I had expected to be able to integrate him to the rest of the world within a few weeks, but he requires as much from me that would anyone of his "age". As much as I enjoy his companionship and the chance to see him evolve, it appears I will have to be more and more away from him, as Sigma grows insistent to have me back at the Maverick Hunter's HQ.  
  
Restraining X inside the laboratory isn't only to give him more time to adapt, I am still uncertain of the stability of such a complex programming. But I am conscient of his desire to explore the outside world. If everything goes well, I will consider letting him take his first steps outside....  
  
//MMX115/endfile//  
  
Cain  
  
-- Log out –  
  
  
  
*****************************  
  
TBC. 


	7. First month

X swiflty caught the ball as it flew in the air. Sumika's aim was good, but she shouldn't have tried such a long shot. Hiko made a pitiful effort to take the ball from him, but he ended flat on the ground, his glasses flowing away.  
  
X could have easily mark from where he stood, but it wasn't the point. Instead, he passed to Kunio who marked two points. A little encouragement from Mary and they resumed to play. X and Kunio where behind by 10 points, but it didn't bother them.  
  
X was thrilled everytime they did something together, even if it was watching TV in silence. He really liked those moments when they weren't "working" with him, but just taking a break or having a good time. At first, he hadn't realised they were here only because they had to. Mary had tried to explain at the time she was the only one seeing him, but it took him quite some time to understand the concept of beeing "under observation". It had hurt him at the time and he became much, much less cooperative. Eventually he accepted the idea, after all it was more or less the same thing for every reploid on the planet. He had goten a "favor treatment", from what Hiko told him.  
  
***********************  
  
It was the first time he ever got angry. Not much, X had barely raised his voice, but angry none the less. Why were things this way? Did none of these people even liked him!? Was he just an experiment to be put aside when they would have enough of him?!  
  
He remembered he had grown more and more agitated and mad, just by thinking about it. Mary stayed calm and continued to talk to him, but Hiko had ran out of the room to fetch Doctor Cain. X paced the room... more questions were creeping in his mind. When he thought he may never get out of this laboratory, he knew he was paniking, but couldn't help himself. Mary begged him to calm down, he answered something, probably a swear, and she was really shocked.  
  
That's about when Dr. Cain arrived. He never knew what made the Doctor mad, but when he saw X, he actually shouted at him "X, SIT DOWN, NOW!" it took him a moment to react... He had NEVER been shouted at before. He un-froze and sat down. That's when he noticed there was another person standing just out of sight in the doorway. Dr. Cain waved in his /her direction and the other disapeared.  
  
X had noticed some things: a weapon, a hard and shining armor... the frame of the body : sharp and hard under the layer of "skin". That person... was a reploid... the second one he had ever seen. Why hadn't he/she come in? And the armed weapon... at it been in case?.. in case...  
  
Dr. Cain had called him back to the moment. By watching him more closely, X saw the Doctor wasn't mad at him. The old man ordered everyone out, then asked him what was wrong. And they talked... for a very long time. X had kept a lot of things "inside" not to bother anyone, by the time he explained everything, or what he could put in words anyway, his eyes were stinging and he had to rubbed them to make the sensation go away. It was the Doctor's time to speak, that too took a long time. That's when X first heard the word -Maverick-. The word seemed to have sliped from Dr. Cain's mouth, for when X asked what it meant, the Doctor asked him to wait for an explaination. There was something about that word, or maybe just the way Dr. Cain looked when the word was said, that sent shivers along his spine. Talking with Doctor Cain was never a waste of time. It helped him understand a lot of things. He still didn't understood everything the Doctor asked of him, but he agreed it was possible he needed more time to adapt. Besides, the man told him from now on, the rest of the team would join Mary and Hiko.  
  
- ... and if everything goes well... don't get me wrong, X, you haven't done ANYTHING wrong. I mean if you react well in having all these new people in your life, then we'll try something else. You are a unique creature, little one, there is no need to rush into anything. We'll take things as slow as you need to, this isn't a test and you are not an experiment. This is a new life for you and I just want everything to go well.  
  
*********************  
  
That was almost two weeks ago. X had felt so releived then.  
  
Now he was playing with the members of the team. He wasn't expecting people to become his friends on first sight anymore, when you think about it, it was rather silly. But now he had "made" friends with most of them. Sometimes, they stayed after work just to keep him company, like today.  
  
Mary was as kind as ever, but she no longer threated him like a child. But she was more careful about what she was saying to him than the others, she knew there was a lot of things he didn't knew and she took the time to explain, without judging.  
  
Sumika was a nice person too. She was as tall as he was and had long, black hair. She was very competitive and hated to lose anything, even a friendly basketball game. She was the most impatient creature he ever met, even if he hadn't met a lot of people. Right now, she was yelling at him to throw the "darn" ball.  
  
There was Kunio, another japanese person. He was studying to become a anthropologist as well as a psychologist. This was a golden opportunity for him to study the evolution of behavior in a controlled environment. Kunio was nice and laughed easily... he was also swearing a lot. X may be an opportunity for him, but he was also the perfect exemple of "average person" for X. It was funny, in a way.  
  
And there was Hiko. Not much to say about him, apart from the huge glasses he wore. All he wanted was to know more about X, he never talked about himself. Hiko wasn't really a friend. It confused him, why was he staying after work if he didn't like beeing with him? Strange, even after work Hiko kept... studying him.  
  
**********************  
  
TBC.  
  
I know it's kind of short, but I haven't posted anything in a while.  
  
Feedback, please ;-) 


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